Activities and Games to build Basic Facts Knowledge
Round and Round
Level: can be adjusted for various ages
Skills: rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100
Players: 2 – 4
Equipment: cards (Ace = 1) – 9, paper, pencil
Getting started: each player takes one, two or three cards and makes a one-, two-, three- digit number. Player says the number out loud. Players challenge each other by asking for the number to be rounded off to the nearest 10 or 100.
Example:
476
Round to the nearest 10 = 480
Round to the nearest 100 = 500
16
Round to the nearest 10 = 20
Round to the nearest 100 = 0
Players with correct answers score one point. The first player to reach twenty points is the winner.
Multiplication Fish
Level: Year 5-6
Skills: Beginning multiplication facts to 10 (or 12)
Players: 2 – 4
Equipment: deck of cards 1-10 or include Jack = 11, Queen = 12,
King = 1, multiplication table to refer to during the game if needed.
Getting started: Deal five cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down in a deck. Players take alternate turns asking the other players if they have certain cards, Players are searching for numbers that will match numbers in their own hands. Players ask by giving a multiplication question (i.e “do you have 2x5?”) If the player they ask has a ten in their hand they must turn it over. That player then has a pair and places it face down in front of themselves. Players may continue asking until they are unsuccessful in finding a match. If a player does not have the number asked for they say “fish” and the player asking takes a card from the top of the deck. If there is no match, they keep the card in their hand and the next player takes their turn. Play continues until one player is out of cards. Players count up their pairs. The player with the most pairs is the winner.
Fair Game - Addition
Level: Years 2 – 3
Skills: Addition, odd / even
Players: 2
Equipment: cards (Ace=1) -5 or (Ace=1) -9 die
Getting started: Each player turns over two cards and adds them together. Player number
one rolls the die to determine who wins the point.
1, 3, 5 – odd roll – lower number wins the point.
2,4,6 – even roll – higher number wins the point.
Players continue to turn cards over and add them. Players alternate the throw of the die.
The first player to score twenty points is the winner.
Skip, Skip, Skip to My Lou
Level: Year 3 and 4
Skills: Skip counting for multiplication and
division
Players: 2 – 4
Equipment: die, paper, pencil, numbers 1-100 on a board to refer to if necessary
Getting started: Player number one rolls the die.
Player number two must skip count, beginning with that number for ten consecutive numbers. If successful, player earns one point. (i.e. 3 rolled, 3,6,9,12,15,18,21,24,27,30) Players alternate turns. The first player to reach twenty points is the winner.
Variations: Use two dice and work on 7 – 10 skip counting.
21 or Bust
Level (can be adjusted for various ages)
Goal: To be the player who gets a combined total of 21
Players: Two or two pairs
Materials: Playing cards: 4 x aces, 4 x twos, 4 x threes, 4 x fours
How: Cards are laid out in a 4 x 4 array. Each player selects a card from the sixteen and turns it over. (once turned over it cannot be reused) A running total of cards turned over is kept. The player who turns a card over to make a total of 21 is the winner. The player who goes over 21 busts and loses the game.
Variations: Start with 21 and subtract the cards that are turned over. The winner is the player who subtracts to make zero. Use 4 x fives etc and have a bigger target.
Ten
Level – Year 1-2
2 – 4 players
Use a pack of cards – remove the 10s and Face Cards (i.e. Jack, Queen, King, Ace, Joker)
Deal out 4 cards to each player. The left over cards are placed face down in the
middle and the top card is turned over and placed alongside. The player to the left of the dealer begins. Try to make the sum of 10 using one of your cards. If you are able to make 10, keep the pair and place face up on the table and turn a new card over and the next person has their turn. If you cannot make 10 it is the next persons turn. If no one can make 10 return the card to the bottom of the pack and turn the next card up. First person with no cards left wins.
Dice Difference
Level – Year 1 up
You need two 1 – 6 dice and pencil and paper and two or more players. Take turns to throw the dice and find the total score.
Person A throws a 5 and 3 with a sum of 8 and Person B throws a 3 and a 1 for a sum of 4.
The player / team with the greater total scores points equivalent to the difference between the sums (in this example A would score 4 points). Write the results on a score sheet. Throw the dice 10 times each.The winner is the player / team with the most points.
Teaching Addition Facts with Cards – If you want to teach your child an easy way to learn addition, have each player deal two cards face up. The player with the highest sum wins. What’s great about this game, is that the playing cards have the symbols which they can use as a counting guide until they are able to memorize the addition facts. Once your child has picked up adding two numbers, you can increase the difficulty level by having them turn up three cards, then four and five and add those numbers.
Times Table/Addition Grids
Level Year 5-6
To build speed and agility with Multiplication or Addition - try either a 100 grid 10x10 numbers in random order.(or 25 grid for a smaller grid and use 5x5 numbers) Use Maths squares in a book or print your own off using a table in word. Students complete this either working down the columns or across the rows as quickly as they can. It's interesting to graph the time and number correct to see improvement.
x
3
7
9
5
8
2
4
10
1
6
6
3
10
4
1
9
7
5
2
8
Building Fluency with Times Tables. When learning a new table, eg 6 times table. Make a clock shape on a white board or piece of paper. Write the number times table your child is learning in the middle. To begin with, keep the numbers around the outside in order like a clock and then make them random as your child becomes more familiar with the times table. The idea is rotate around the clock saying the answer, 6x4 = 24, 6x8 = 48 etc. Speed is the key - see how fast you can go.
Round and Round
Level: can be adjusted for various ages
Skills: rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100
Players: 2 – 4
Equipment: cards (Ace = 1) – 9, paper, pencil
Getting started: each player takes one, two or three cards and makes a one-, two-, three- digit number. Player says the number out loud. Players challenge each other by asking for the number to be rounded off to the nearest 10 or 100.
Example:
476
Round to the nearest 10 = 480
Round to the nearest 100 = 500
16
Round to the nearest 10 = 20
Round to the nearest 100 = 0
Players with correct answers score one point. The first player to reach twenty points is the winner.
Multiplication Fish
Level: Year 5-6
Skills: Beginning multiplication facts to 10 (or 12)
Players: 2 – 4
Equipment: deck of cards 1-10 or include Jack = 11, Queen = 12,
King = 1, multiplication table to refer to during the game if needed.
Getting started: Deal five cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down in a deck. Players take alternate turns asking the other players if they have certain cards, Players are searching for numbers that will match numbers in their own hands. Players ask by giving a multiplication question (i.e “do you have 2x5?”) If the player they ask has a ten in their hand they must turn it over. That player then has a pair and places it face down in front of themselves. Players may continue asking until they are unsuccessful in finding a match. If a player does not have the number asked for they say “fish” and the player asking takes a card from the top of the deck. If there is no match, they keep the card in their hand and the next player takes their turn. Play continues until one player is out of cards. Players count up their pairs. The player with the most pairs is the winner.
Fair Game - Addition
Level: Years 2 – 3
Skills: Addition, odd / even
Players: 2
Equipment: cards (Ace=1) -5 or (Ace=1) -9 die
Getting started: Each player turns over two cards and adds them together. Player number
one rolls the die to determine who wins the point.
1, 3, 5 – odd roll – lower number wins the point.
2,4,6 – even roll – higher number wins the point.
Players continue to turn cards over and add them. Players alternate the throw of the die.
The first player to score twenty points is the winner.
Skip, Skip, Skip to My Lou
Level: Year 3 and 4
Skills: Skip counting for multiplication and
division
Players: 2 – 4
Equipment: die, paper, pencil, numbers 1-100 on a board to refer to if necessary
Getting started: Player number one rolls the die.
Player number two must skip count, beginning with that number for ten consecutive numbers. If successful, player earns one point. (i.e. 3 rolled, 3,6,9,12,15,18,21,24,27,30) Players alternate turns. The first player to reach twenty points is the winner.
Variations: Use two dice and work on 7 – 10 skip counting.
21 or Bust
Level (can be adjusted for various ages)
Goal: To be the player who gets a combined total of 21
Players: Two or two pairs
Materials: Playing cards: 4 x aces, 4 x twos, 4 x threes, 4 x fours
How: Cards are laid out in a 4 x 4 array. Each player selects a card from the sixteen and turns it over. (once turned over it cannot be reused) A running total of cards turned over is kept. The player who turns a card over to make a total of 21 is the winner. The player who goes over 21 busts and loses the game.
Variations: Start with 21 and subtract the cards that are turned over. The winner is the player who subtracts to make zero. Use 4 x fives etc and have a bigger target.
Ten
Level – Year 1-2
2 – 4 players
Use a pack of cards – remove the 10s and Face Cards (i.e. Jack, Queen, King, Ace, Joker)
Deal out 4 cards to each player. The left over cards are placed face down in the
middle and the top card is turned over and placed alongside. The player to the left of the dealer begins. Try to make the sum of 10 using one of your cards. If you are able to make 10, keep the pair and place face up on the table and turn a new card over and the next person has their turn. If you cannot make 10 it is the next persons turn. If no one can make 10 return the card to the bottom of the pack and turn the next card up. First person with no cards left wins.
Dice Difference
Level – Year 1 up
You need two 1 – 6 dice and pencil and paper and two or more players. Take turns to throw the dice and find the total score.
Person A throws a 5 and 3 with a sum of 8 and Person B throws a 3 and a 1 for a sum of 4.
The player / team with the greater total scores points equivalent to the difference between the sums (in this example A would score 4 points). Write the results on a score sheet. Throw the dice 10 times each.The winner is the player / team with the most points.
Teaching Addition Facts with Cards – If you want to teach your child an easy way to learn addition, have each player deal two cards face up. The player with the highest sum wins. What’s great about this game, is that the playing cards have the symbols which they can use as a counting guide until they are able to memorize the addition facts. Once your child has picked up adding two numbers, you can increase the difficulty level by having them turn up three cards, then four and five and add those numbers.
Times Table/Addition Grids
Level Year 5-6
To build speed and agility with Multiplication or Addition - try either a 100 grid 10x10 numbers in random order.(or 25 grid for a smaller grid and use 5x5 numbers) Use Maths squares in a book or print your own off using a table in word. Students complete this either working down the columns or across the rows as quickly as they can. It's interesting to graph the time and number correct to see improvement.
Building Fluency with Times Tables. When learning a new table, eg 6 times table. Make a clock shape on a white board or piece of paper. Write the number times table your child is learning in the middle. To begin with, keep the numbers around the outside in order like a clock and then make them random as your child becomes more familiar with the times table. The idea is rotate around the clock saying the answer, 6x4 = 24, 6x8 = 48 etc. Speed is the key - see how fast you can go.